Von der Leyen’s party pressures Brussels to fund Greek, Polish border fence

Germany's centre-right CDU (EPP) has urged the European Commission, led by fellow CDU member Ursula von der Leyen, to fund fences at the borders of Greece and Poland as new German border controls increase the pressure on countries of first entry.

Germany reintroduced measures to deport more asylum seekers to the EU countries where they were first registered, which are usually located in countries that border non-EU countries such as Greece, which, among other efforts, requested EU funding to build a fence at its external border with Turkey. 

While the Commission told Euractiv that EU member states are responsible for their border fortifications, the CDU, Germany’s main opposition party, has now spoken out against this and called for more EU support from von der Leyen’s Commission. 

“I expect the Federal Government and the EU Commission to ensure that we do not abandon states by the external borders such as Poland and Greece,” Alexander Throm, the CDU’s lead MP on home affairs, told Euractiv.  

“This is a task that affects us all. And anyone who wants secure borders must also commit to border fortifications,” he added. 

This would include supporting “structural and technical border protection where necessary.” 

However, the Commission has suggested that a common EU approach should focus on “smart solutions”, such as surveillance systems, rather than fences. 

Germany is sceptical of joint funding 

Jointly funded border fortifications remain a sensitive issue, as Germany's relatively frugal centre-left government has previously rejected the idea of EU funding for border protection. 

However, as Poland is facing a resurgence of irregular migration at its border with Belarus, Poland - and the Baltic states - also argued for EU-funded military border reinforcement at the last EU leaders’ summit in June. 

However, according to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD/S&D), EU-funded border protection would amount to “refinancing national defence efforts through European financial channels.” 

Scholz also pointed to the European border protection agency Frontex as an existing source of non-defence protection. 

But with the CDU's support for joint funding mounting, the pressure on the Commission is increasing. The party is currently leading the polls, and its leader, Friedrich Merz, is in pole position to win the chancellorship in next year's national elections. 

Von der Leyen is known to have been in close contact with the Commission’s priorities before the June European elections.

(Nick Alipour | Euractiv.de)